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​PG) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Warner Bros Pictures.PGRunning Time: 182 Minutes.2 stars out of 4.

The Lord of The Rings Trilogy is arguably one of the best trilogies ever put on film. 2003's LOTR:Return of The King swept the Oscars winning Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, etc, and was very successful grossing over 1 billion dollars worldwide. 9 years later Peter Jackson returns to middle earth in the prequel to the original trilogy with The Hobbit, the first film based on the novel of the same name, in a serious of three consecutive films. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is one of 2012's most anticipated films,and is the first theatrical film to be shown in a new cinema format, High Frame Rate (HFR, 48fps). Expectations are high, and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey fails to meet the standard set by the original trilogy.

The Internet Movie Database IMDB, describes An Unexpected Journey as A younger and more reluctant Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, sets out on a "unexpected journey" to the Lonely Mountain with a spirited group of Dwarves to reclaim a their stolen mountain home from a dragon named Smaug.(ALL COPYRIGHT IMDB)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey runs at 169 minutes long, and as a viewer you feel every minute of it.

What I liked about The Hobbit was its look. It is visually stunning(even in HFR), the score is repetitive but works with the tone of the film, Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins is a great casting choice, and potrays the complicated role of The Hobbit very well. Also, the 3D(while not being outstanding) is used very well, and never made me feel sick. Finally, the amazing motion capture work of Mr.Andy Serkis, who brings Gollum back to middle earth, and better than ever.

There are many things that did not work for me in The Hobbit, firstly, I found the storytelling to be quite weak, while I was watching I could not figure out what the Hobbits and dwarves were trying to do or accomplish. Bilbo keeps on repeating"I'm going on an adventure," but I always questioned, what is he going to do on the adventure, and why is he essential for the adventure. Also, the films running time is too long, and there are certain scenes that have no impact on story or plot development, that could easily have been cut right out of the final picture. Finally, there are 13 dwarves in this film, as there were in the book, but there is so much unnecessary things happening, that it is hard to remember all of the dwarves, and care about what happens to them. I know it had to be in the film because it was an important part of the novel, but I feel as though the filmmakers should have given more depth and insight into each or some of the 13 dwarves.

The Hobbit is filled with cameos and appearances by characters from the original trilogy, whose presence alone remind the audience why we liked the first three films so much, and why we cant seem to enjoy the first entry in The Hobbit Trilogy.

There has been alot of talk and buzz about the format The Hobbit is being shown in. The format is High Frame Rate (HFR,48FPS) which doubles the films frame rate, to make pictures and images clearer. The controversy surrounding the format is that settings and characters look to bright, and everything looks to realistic. To me, I found that I got used to the format about 30 minutes in. The first few scenes were distracting to look at, because it looked as if I was watching a soap opera, and it also looked as if characters were moving too fast.

The film is only for die hard Lord of The Rings fans, and for the rest of the world(including myself) you will be bored, and not entertained while watching this three hour ''epic.''